Gaining Perspective Amidst COVID-19

COVID-19, or the Coronavirus, has quickly brought a lot of our lives to a halt. With it comes stress, financial worries and the fear of sickness. And chances are that if you turn on the news, it’ll only increase the stress you’re feeling. Now, more than ever, it’s important that we come together to support each other, and if you look around your community, I think you’ll see a lot of compassion, and a lot of people trying to help each other.

Tragedy has a unique way of providing new perspectives and bringing people together. My father passed away a little over a year ago, and it was an extremely difficult and sad time in my life. However, I also started to see things a little differently than before. The small hardships in life didn’t matter as much, and I was able to focus more on the bigger things. Many of us are upset that our lives have been disrupted in small ways, but there are even more people who are losing their entire livelihoods. My question for all of us during this tragedy is what will we do to help? What can we do differently, and how can we better serve others in our communities?

Reach Out

The first thing I did was start calling my mother more often, and vowed to keep calling her more frequently after this is over. And then I looked around and thought, who else should I be reaching out to?  I wrote personalized notes to each member of my staff, as well as called to check in on some friends that I have not spoken to in quite a while. There are going to be a lot of people who need extra help. Ask yourself:

• Do I know anyone who might need help with childcare, now that schools are closed?
• Can I run errands for the elderly, the immunocompromised or anyone else who cannot risk leaving their homes at the moment?
• Do I have the resources to donate to charities that are helping the people most severely affected by this?

Even if you are not in a position to directly help, you can continue to pray for your local community, the country, our leaders, and those who are sick and affected by the virus.

Support Your Local Businesses

Big box stores like Walmart, Target, etc have seen a boom in sales due to all the extra shopping people have been doing, but your local businesses and restaurants are hurting. I’ve made it a point in the last couple weeks to shop local whenever I can, and I encourage you to do the same. You can even buy a gift card for the future if there’s not something you need right now. Just the other day I went to My Half of the Sky, a wonderful coffee shop and ministry, to do just that.  Most of your local restaurants are still open for pick up or delivery, which is a great way to continue to support them during this time.  Keep in mind that, unlike corporations, these small businesses rely on their individual communities to stay open. Here is a list of just a handful of restaurants in the Wheaton area that are open and could use our support.

Reflect

Social distancing and self-quarantine are hard, but this is also a great opportunity to spend more quality time with your family. Things might get a little rough after you’ve all been in the house together for a couple weeks, but take this time to feel blessed that you have each other to weather the storm with, and that you’re all in good health.

You’ll also have plenty of time to think on your estranged relationships. You might find yourself realizing that your grudge isn’t as important as you thought. Like I said, tragedy has a way of changing your perspective, so maybe now is the time to mend that broken bridge.

The fact of the matter is that we cannot change what is currently happening, but we can use this time to find the light in the darkness. I have already been so moved and impressed by all the different ways that people are being creative, altruistic, and philanthropic. Whether it’s NBA players Zion Williams and Kevin Love donating their salaries to help those in need, or the man who continues to visit his father in the nursing home every day from outside his window, there is still so much good in the world. My hope is that we can continue to add to it.

All of us at Stenzel Clinical recognize how difficult and scary this situation is for our communities, and  we are here to help. Our offices remain open, and our HIPAA secure online counseling services are now available to all of our clients, even if it wasn’t previously covered by your insurance. You can read about our decision here. One of our counselors also shared some thoughtful advice in this article about responding to the fear and panic surrounding COVID-19. But most importantly, stay calm and be safe. We’ll all get through this together.